Match ends, West Ham United 1, Watford 0.
West Ham 1-0 Watford: Kurt Zouma named in starting line-up as Hammers reignite top-four push
West Ham reignited their top-four push with a narrow victory over Roy Hodgson’s Watford, as Kurt Zouma controversially started for the home side.
The Hammers have “unreservedly condemned” the France defender after a video emerged of him kicking his pet cat across the floor and slapping it in the face.
Zouma has apologised and the club have said they will deal with the matter internally.
Chances were at a premium in a dour first half at London Stadium, with Said Benrahma striking the outside of the post in the best opportunity of the opening 45 minutes.
Jarrod Bowen eventually broke the deadlock in the second half with his sixth goal in as many games – a long-range strike which struck Samir on its way past Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Bowen almost doubled his and West Ham’s tally late on with a fierce left-footed strike, but Foster was able to divert the ball on to the post.
The result stretches the Hornets’ winless league run to 10 matches and leaves them stranded in the bottom three.
More to follow.
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West Ham United
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Squad number1Player nameFabianski
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Squad number5Player nameCoufal
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Squad number15Player nameDawson
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Squad number4Player nameZouma
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Squad number3Player nameCresswell
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Squad number28Player nameSoucek
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Squad number41Player nameRice
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Squad number20Player nameBowen
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Squad number8Player nameFornals
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Squad number22Player nameBenrahma
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Squad number9Player nameAntonio
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Squad number10Player nameLanzini
Watford
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Squad number2Player nameNgakia -
Squad number6Player nameLouza
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Squad number10Player nameJoão Pedro
Line-ups
West Ham
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Fabianski
- 5CoufalBooked at 83mins
- 15Dawson
- 4Zouma
- 3Cresswell
- 28Soucek
- 41Rice
- 20Bowen
- 8Fornals
- 22BenrahmaSubstituted forLanziniat 60′minutes
- 9Antonio
Substitutes
- 7Yarmolenko
- 10Lanzini
- 11Vlasic
- 13Areola
- 16Noble
- 23Diop
- 24Fredericks
- 31Johnson
- 33Král
Watford
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Foster
- 21FemeníaSubstituted forNgakiaat 78′minutes
- 15Cathcart
- 22Samir
- 14Kamara
- 33Kucka
- 19Sissoko
- 39KayembeSubstituted forLouzaat 77′minutes
- 8CleverleySubstituted forJoão Pedroat 77′minutes
- 7King
- 25Dennis
Substitutes
- 2Ngakia
- 6Louza
- 10João Pedro
- 11Masina
- 12Sema
- 26Bachmann
- 27Kabasele
- 28Kalu
- 29Hernández
Live Text
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Second Half ends, West Ham United 1, Watford 0.
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Craig Dawson (West Ham United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Foul by Joshua King (Watford).
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Foul by Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United).
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Craig Cathcart (Watford) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
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Attempt blocked. Emmanuel Dennis (Watford) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Moussa Sissoko.
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Attempt saved. Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Tomas Soucek.
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Vladimir Coufal (West Ham United) is shown the yellow card.
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Corner, Watford. Conceded by Vladimir Coufal.
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Substitution, Watford. Jeremy Ngakia replaces Kiko Femenía.
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Substitution, Watford. Imrân Louza replaces Edo Kayembe.
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Substitution, Watford. João Pedro replaces Tom Cleverley.
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Attempt saved. Tom Cleverley (Watford) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner. Assisted by Moussa Sissoko.
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Attempt missed. Tom Cleverley (Watford) left footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Joshua King following a fast break.
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Corner, West Ham United. Conceded by Hassane Kamara.
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Attempt blocked. Tomas Soucek (West Ham United) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Aaron Cresswell.
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Goal! West Ham United 1, Watford 0. Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) left footed shot from outside the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Manuel Lanzini.
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Corner, Watford. Conceded by Tomas Soucek.
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Corner, Watford. Conceded by Vladimir Coufal.
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